Cruising life

Right now, I'm waiting on the boat as we'd left Hubbard Glacier in Alaska last night and heading towards Ketchikan which will be our last stop before we make our way back to Vancouver in the next couple days. Here's a typical cruise day for me:

I wake up around 8. Head to the breakfast buffet that has just about everything anyone could possibly want for breakfast - including different meats, fish, fruit, vegetables etc. I eat a plate of fruit and a plate of bacon (call me weird) and head out to the gym. The gym has been redone recently I'm sure and it has nice machines for working out as well as a couple benches, cardio machines, classes and it all overlooks the front of the boat. Then I eat lunch. There are many places to eat lunch all with different themes and kinds of food - everything from a hamburger stand to fine lunch dining. I usually stay away from the buffet here because it's a zoo so I'll just make my way over to the pizza/pasta bar. Fresh ingredients there that you pick and choose what you want on your pizza/pasta. It's pretty amazing. After lunch, I'll shower and start my afternoon relaxing. It's some time watching TV, reading, maybe some time in the casino, watching Lost and usually napping. At 6, we get ready for dinner. Fancy dress up dining with an amazing menu of awesome food. (Last night I had two Lobster tails. The night before, I had steak and salmon...) Last night after dinner, I had an hour getting a spa massage. Then at 9, we watched a theatre show that I'd happily have paid $30-40 each to see back home. At midnight, there was another HUGE buffet in the ballroom. Kathleen and I went, took pictures, and left. Watched a few more episodes of Lost, ordered 24 hour room service and went to bed.

That's a pretty typical day this week so far. It's been good. I've really enjoyed it. But to be honest, it isn't what I thought it would be. For the majority of the world, I'd think that this is about as good as life gets. Eat when you want. Sleep when you want. Play when and whatever you want. Nothing really COSTS anything. We have cruise cards that just puts everything onto our account. People drink at every meal and often throughout the day. There's no agenda and things are usually quite over the top. I'm quite sure that the dinners I eat at night would easily cost over $60 just for me alone. (I usually eat two entrees!) If you were to ask me what ideal living would be like, this wouldn't be far off. Maybe I'd want it to be warmer. And a few friends on the boat to share these meals/good times with. But it's not far off.

But if this is what life should be aspiring to, I'd be really disappointed. As good of a time as I'm having, the best parts of this trip are the time that Kathleen and I have had watching Lost. It's the conversation I had over coffee with my mom yesterday afternoon. It's talking to my family every day at dinner for 2 hours because that's just how long dinner takes. It's watching my dad relax and enjoy himself. It's the time that I have to just be myself - no expectations - just to read, think, reflect, rejuvinate.

The best part of this cruise has nothing to do with the cruise. It's all the things I could have at home - but often don't because i'm too busy, too tired, too lazy. As much as I love being here, I'm glad that my life has a lot more to it than just chasing comfort, extravagance and wealth.